Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Retirement Allowance Cooperative Act

The purpose of this Act is, with regard to the employees of small and medium-sized enterprises, to establish a retirement allowance mutual aid system funded by contributions from small and medium-sized enterprises, based on the spirit of mutual aid among them, and thereby to contribute to the enhancement of the welfare of those employees and the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, etc.

①In this Act, "small and medium-sized enterprise" means an employer that falls under any of the following items (excluding the State, local governments, and other persons specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as equivalent to them):

②In this Act, "retirement" means the termination of the employment relationship between an employee and an employer.

③In this Act, "retirement allowance mutual aid contract" means a contract, other than a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract, under which an employer promises to pay premiums to the Organization for Workers' Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid (hereinafter referred to as the "Organization", except in Articles 56 and 57) and the Organization promises to pay retirement allowances, as provided for in this Act, upon the retirement of the employees employed by that employer.

④In this Act, "specified industry" means an industry, such as the construction industry, in which a considerable number of employees ordinarily move between many businesses belonging to that industry and are employed by the employers of those businesses, and which is designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑤In this Act, "specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract" means a contract under which an employer of a business belonging to a specified industry promises to pay premiums to the Organization and the Organization promises to pay retirement allowances, as provided for in this Act, upon the retirement of a person who is employed by that employer as a person employed for a fixed period and who habitually engages in a business belonging to that specified industry.

⑥In this Act, "mutual aid policyholder" means an employer that is a party to a retirement allowance mutual aid contract or a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

⑦In this Act, "covered employee" means a person upon whose retirement the Organization is to pay a retirement allowance under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract or a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

①A retirement allowance mutual aid contract may not be concluded by anyone other than a small and medium-sized enterprise.

②With respect to a person who is currently a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract, a new retirement allowance mutual aid contract naming that person as a covered employee may not be concluded.

③A small and medium-sized enterprise must see to it that it concludes retirement allowance mutual aid contracts for all of its employees, excluding the persons listed in the following items:

④The Organization must not refuse to conclude a retirement allowance mutual aid contract, except in the cases listed in the following items:

①A retirement allowance mutual aid contract is to be concluded for each covered employee, specifying the monthly premium.

②The monthly premium must be 5,000 yen or more and 30,000 yen or less per covered employee (2,000 yen in the case of a covered employee who, on the date of application for the retirement allowance mutual aid contract, is a person whose prescribed weekly working hours are shorter than the prescribed weekly working hours of an ordinary employee employed by the mutual aid policyholder and are less than the number of hours determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (referred to as a "short-time covered employee" in Article 27, paragraph (4))).

③The monthly premium must be, where it exceeds 2,000 yen but is less than 10,000 yen, an amount obtained by multiplying 1,000 yen by an integer, and, where it exceeds 10,000 yen but is less than 30,000 yen, an amount obtained by multiplying 2,000 yen by an integer.

Covered employees and their bereaved family members automatically receive the benefit of the retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

①A small and medium-sized enterprise must not apply for a retirement allowance mutual aid contract naming an employee it employs as the covered employee against the will of that employee.

②When applying for a retirement allowance mutual aid contract, a small and medium-sized enterprise must state clearly the name of the person who is to be the covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract and the monthly premium.

①A retirement allowance mutual aid contract is deemed to have been formed on the date of the application when the Organization accepts the application, and takes effect from that date.

②When a retirement allowance mutual aid contract has been formed, the mutual aid policyholder must notify the covered employee to that effect without delay.

③The Organization must, without delay after the formation of a retirement allowance mutual aid contract, deliver a retirement allowance mutual aid book to the mutual aid policyholder.

④The retirement allowance mutual aid book must be capable of showing the status of premium payments.

①Neither the Organization nor a mutual aid policyholder may cancel a retirement allowance mutual aid contract, except in the cases prescribed in paragraph (2) or paragraph (3).

②The Organization is to cancel a retirement allowance mutual aid contract in the cases set out in the following items; provided, however, that this does not apply where, in a case falling under item (ii), the Organization has obtained in advance the approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③A mutual aid policyholder may cancel a retirement allowance mutual aid contract in the cases set out in the following items.

④The cancellation of a retirement allowance mutual aid contract takes effect only prospectively.

⑤The provisions of paragraph (2) of the preceding Article apply mutatis mutandis to the cancellation of a retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

①The Organization must accept an application from a mutual aid policyholder for an increase in the monthly premium.

②The Organization must not accept an application from a mutual aid policyholder for a decrease in the monthly premium, except in the cases set out in the items of paragraph (3) of the preceding Article.

③An application under the preceding two paragraphs must be made by stating clearly the name of the covered employee and the monthly premium after the increase or decrease.

④The provisions of Article 7, paragraphs (1) and (2) apply mutatis mutandis to an increase or decrease in the monthly premium.

①When a covered employee retires, the Organization is to pay a retirement allowance to that person (or, where the retirement is due to death, to the bereaved family members); provided, however, that this does not apply where the number of months for which premiums have been paid for the covered employee (hereinafter referred to as the "number of months of paid premiums") is less than 12 months.

②The amount of the retirement allowance is the amount specified in each of the following items according to the category of the number of months of paid premiums set out in that item.

③The amounts specified by Cabinet Order referred to in item (i), item (ii) and item (iii), (a) of the preceding paragraph are to be determined on the basis of the total amount of the premiums paid and the investment income therefrom, taking into account the assumed interest rate, the estimated number of retirements of covered employees and the estimated number of cancellations of retirement allowance mutual aid contracts.

④The payment rate under paragraph (2), item (iii), (b) is to be determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, for each fiscal year, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, by the end of the fiscal year preceding that fiscal year, after hearing the opinion of the Labour Policy Council, on the basis of the rate obtained by dividing the amount calculated as the portion of the investment income of the fiscal year preceding that fiscal year that is to be applied to the payment of the amount prescribed in paragraph (2), item (iii), (b) by the total amount of the hypothetical retirement allowance amounts of covered employees who will have a calculation month in that fiscal year, and taking into account the estimated amount of investment income for that fiscal year and thereafter and other circumstances.

⑤Where a covered employee has retired for a reason attributable to that employee and the mutual aid policyholder has made a request, and the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds it appropriate in accordance with the standards specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Organization may pay a reduced retirement allowance, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

A retirement allowance is paid as a lump sum.

①Notwithstanding the preceding Article, at the request of a covered employee, the Organization may pay all or part of the retirement allowance by way of installment payment; provided, however, that this does not apply in any of the cases set out in the following items.

②Where a covered employee intends to receive part of the retirement allowance by way of installment payment, the request under the preceding paragraph must be made by specifying the amount of the part of the retirement allowance that the covered employee intends to receive by way of installment payment (hereinafter referred to in this Article as the "amount subject to installment payment").

③The payment months for a retirement allowance paid by way of installment payment are February, May, August and November of each year.

④The period of payment of a retirement allowance by way of installment payment (referred to as the "installment payment period" in the following paragraph) is either five years or 10 years from the first payment month after the request under paragraph (1), as selected by the covered employee.

⑤The amount of the retirement allowance for each payment month (referred to as the "retirement allowance installment" in the following Article) is the amount obtained by multiplying the amount of the retirement allowance (the amount subject to installment payment, where part of the retirement allowance is paid by way of installment payment) by the rate specified by Cabinet Order in accordance with the installment payment period (referred to as the "installment payment rate" in paragraph (2) of the following Article).

⑥Where, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (1), part of the retirement allowance is to be paid by way of installment payment, the amount obtained by deducting the amount subject to installment payment from the full amount of that retirement allowance is paid as a lump sum.

①Where the Organization has decided to pay all or part of a retirement allowance by way of installment payment and an event set out in the following items occurs, the Organization is to pay in a lump sum, to the person specified in each of those items, the total amount of the amounts equivalent to the present value of the retirement allowance installments whose payment months have not arrived by the time that event occurred (hereinafter referred to in this Article as the "present value amount").

②The present value amount is the amount obtained by discounting the amount of the retirement allowance installment, by the compound present value method at the interest rate determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as the interest rate that was the basis for calculating the installment payment rate for that amount, according to the period from the nearest payment month after the occurrence of the event set out in each item of the preceding paragraph to the payment month for that retirement allowance installment.

①The bereaved family members who are to receive payment of a retirement allowance pursuant to the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (1) are the persons set out in the following items.

②The order of priority of the bereaved family members who are to receive a retirement allowance is the order of the items of the preceding paragraph, and, among the persons set out in items (ii) and (iv) of that paragraph, the order in which they are set out in those items. In this case, for parents the order is adoptive parents and then biological parents, and for grandparents the order is the adoptive parents of adoptive parents, the biological parents of adoptive parents, the adoptive parents of biological parents, and the biological parents of biological parents.

③Where there are two or more persons of the same rank among the bereaved family members who are to receive a retirement allowance under the preceding paragraph, the retirement allowance is paid in equal shares according to their number.

A person who has caused the death of a covered employee by an intentional criminal act may not receive a retirement allowance, notwithstanding the preceding Article. The same applies to a person who, before the death of a covered employee, has caused by an intentional criminal act the death of a person who would be entitled to receive a retirement allowance upon the death of that covered employee.

①When a retirement allowance mutual aid contract has been cancelled, the Organization pays a cancellation refund to the covered employee.

②Where a retirement allowance mutual aid contract has been cancelled pursuant to the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (2), item (iii), a cancellation refund is not paid, notwithstanding the preceding paragraph; provided, however, that this does not apply where there are special circumstances specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③The provisions of the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) apply mutatis mutandis to the cancellation refund, and the provisions of paragraph (2) of that Article apply mutatis mutandis to the amount of the cancellation refund.

④Where the Organization pays a cancellation refund pursuant to the proviso to paragraph (2), or pays a cancellation refund where a retirement allowance mutual aid contract in respect of whose premium a measure of reduction has been taken under Article 23, paragraph (1) has been cancelled, the Organization may reduce its amount, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①Where, when a retirement allowance mutual aid contract has been cancelled pursuant to the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (2), item (ii), the mutual aid policyholder of the cancelled retirement allowance mutual aid contract has given notice of the implementation, for the covered employee of the cancelled retirement allowance mutual aid contract, of a defined-benefit corporate pension prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act (Act No. 50 of 2001) (referred to as a "defined-benefit corporate pension" in Article 31-3 and Article 31-4), a corporate-type pension plan prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Defined Contribution Pension Act (Act No. 88 of 2001) (referred to as a "corporate-type pension plan" in Article 31-3 and Article 31-4), or any other scheme specified by Cabinet Order, in each case one that meets the requirements specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "specified corporate pension scheme, etc."), the Organization does not pay a cancellation refund to that covered employee, notwithstanding paragraph (1) of the preceding Article. In this case, where, within the period specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare after the cancellation, the mutual aid policyholder has, with the consent of that covered employee and as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, made an application concerning the transfer of an amount equivalent to the cancellation refund to the specified corporate pension scheme, etc. pertaining to that notice, the Organization is to transfer, based on that application, an amount specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare within the range of the amount equivalent to the cancellation refund for that covered employee to an asset management and investment institution, etc. prescribed in Article 30, paragraph (3) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act (referred to as an "asset management and investment institution, etc." in Article 31-3 and Article 31-4), an asset management institution prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (7), item (i), (b) of the Defined Contribution Pension Act (referred to as an "asset management institution" in Article 31-3 and Article 31-4), or any other body specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as one that implements that specified corporate pension scheme, etc.

②In the case of the second sentence of the preceding paragraph, where the amount to be transferred under the second sentence of that paragraph is less than the amount equivalent to the cancellation refund for the covered employee referred to in that paragraph, the Organization is to pay the difference to that covered employee as a cancellation refund, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, notwithstanding the provisions of that paragraph.

③In the case of paragraph (1), where any of the following events occurs with respect to the covered employee who is the subject of the notice under the first sentence of that paragraph, the Organization pays a cancellation refund to that covered employee, notwithstanding the provisions of that paragraph.

In order to ensure that claims for retirement allowances, etc. are made smoothly, the Organization must endeavor to provide information concerning the payment of retirement allowances, etc. to persons who are to receive payment of retirement allowances, etc.

Where, within three years after a covered employee's retirement, that person, without claiming a retirement allowance, is again employed by a small and medium-sized enterprise and becomes a covered employee (excluding a covered employee for whom all or part of the amount equivalent to the retirement allowance that would be paid to that person had that claim been made has been transferred, pursuant to the provisions of Article 31, paragraph (1), to the body prescribed in that paragraph), and that person has made an application, if the number of months of paid premiums under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract concluded before the retirement is 12 months or more, or if that number of months is less than 12 months and the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that the retirement was not due to a reason attributable to that covered employee or to that covered employee's convenience (excluding that based on unavoidable circumstances specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), the numbers of months of paid premiums under the earlier and later retirement allowance mutual aid contracts may be aggregated, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. In this case, the matters necessary for calculating the amount of the retirement allowance, etc. are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

A covered employee who is a minor may independently claim the retirement allowance, etc. under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

The right to receive payment of a retirement allowance, etc. may not be transferred, offered as security or seized; provided, however, that this does not apply where the right of a covered employee to receive payment of a retirement allowance, etc. is seized by a disposition for delinquent national taxes (including a disposition under the same procedures).

①Where there is a person who has received payment of a retirement allowance, etc. by deceit or other wrongful conduct, the Organization may have that person return that retirement allowance, etc. In this case, where the payment was due to a false certification or notification by the mutual aid policyholder, the Organization may have the mutual aid policyholder return the retirement allowance, etc. jointly and severally with the person who received payment.

②Where the Organization is to pay a retirement allowance, etc. to a covered employee or the covered employee's bereaved family members and there is an amount to be returned to the Organization under the preceding paragraph, the Organization may set off that retirement allowance, etc. against the amount that that person is to return.

①For each month from the month containing the day on which a retirement allowance mutual aid contract took effect through the month containing the day on which the covered employee retired or the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract was cancelled, a mutual aid policyholder must pay the premium for that month, based on the monthly premium as of the last day of that month (or, for the month containing the day of retirement or the day of cancellation of the retirement allowance mutual aid contract, as of the day of retirement or the day of cancellation), by the last day of the following month (or, for the premium for the month containing the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract took effect, by the last day of the month after the following month).

②The premium for a month may not be paid in installments.

①In order to promote the filing of applications for retirement allowance mutual aid contracts by small and medium-sized enterprises and the filing of applications for an increase in the monthly premium under Article 9, paragraph (1) by mutual aid policyholders, the Organization may, as a measure to reduce the burden of premiums on mutual aid policyholders, reduce the amount of the premium for certain months, as provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②For a month for which a measure to reduce premiums is taken under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, if a mutual aid policyholder pays the premium in the amount reduced under the provisions of that paragraph, with regard to the application of the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (2) (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 16, paragraph (3)) and Article 55, paragraph (1), the premium is deemed to have been paid based on the monthly premium under paragraph (1) of the preceding Article.

If a mutual aid policyholder pays a premium on or before the last day of the month preceding the month concerned, the Organization may reduce its amount, as provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①The Organization may require a mutual aid policyholder who pays a premium after the payment due date to pay a surcharge.

②The amount of the surcharge must not exceed the amount calculated on the amount of the premium at the rate of 14.6 percent per annum for the number of days from the day following the payment due date to the day preceding the day of payment.

①For a mutual aid policyholder who regularly employs fewer than five employees, the Organization may extend the payment due date under Article 22, paragraph (1) within three months, as provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②If the Organization finds that a mutual aid policyholder is unable to pay a premium by the payment due date due to a natural disaster or other unavoidable grounds, it may extend the payment due date.

①A person who intends to apply for a retirement allowance mutual aid contract (excluding a person who currently has concluded a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for the employees that person employs) may, when making the application, file a request to have the number of months of the past service period (if that number of months exceeds 120 months, 120 months) of an employee who is to become a covered employee (excluding a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract that is the subject of a request under Article 31-2, paragraph (1) or Article 31-3, paragraph (1)) aggregated with the number of months of paid premiums under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract (the "past service period" being the period obtained by excluding, from the period of continuous employment from the day on which the employee was hired by the person intending to make that application to the day preceding the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract takes effect, the period specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare out of the period during which the employee was a person listed in the items of Article 3, paragraph (3) (where the period so obtained has a fraction of less than one year, the fraction is to be discarded); the same applies hereinafter).

②A request under the provisions of the preceding paragraph must be made for all persons who are to become covered employees under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract at the same time as the application for the retirement allowance mutual aid contract is made (excluding a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract that is the subject of a request under Article 31-2, paragraph (1) or Article 31-3, paragraph (1)).

③A request under the provisions of paragraph (1) must be made by specifying the monthly premium for the past service period that forms the basis for calculating the amount of the retirement allowance under Article 29, paragraph (1), item (i) (hereinafter referred to as the "past service monthly amount").

④The past service monthly amount must be specified, in consideration of the trend of monthly premiums and other factors, from among the amounts specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in accordance with the categories prescribed in Article 4, paragraph (3) (which are to be amounts of 5,000 yen (or, for a short-time covered employee, 2,000 yen) or more), within a range not exceeding the monthly premium on the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract for that covered employee takes effect.

⑤The past service monthly amount specified under the provisions of paragraph (3) may not be changed after the Organization has accepted the application for the retirement allowance mutual aid contract for that covered employee.

①A mutual aid policyholder that has filed a request under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article must, for each month for which premiums have been paid for the covered employee concerned in that request, from the month containing the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract took effect through the month in which five years (or, where the past service period is less than five years, the number of years of that past service period) elapse (or, where the covered employee retires before that month or the retirement allowance mutual aid contract is cancelled before that month, the month containing the day of retirement or the day of cancellation of the retirement allowance mutual aid contract), pay the monthly past service premium, being the amount obtained by multiplying the past service monthly amount by the rate obtained by adding, to the rate specified by Cabinet Order according to the number of years of the past service period, the rate determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in consideration of the cost of paying the amount provided for in Article 10, paragraph (2), item (iii), (b) out of the amount of the retirement allowance under Article 29, paragraph (1), item (i), by the last day of the following month (or, for the past service premium for the month containing the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract took effect, by the last day of the month after the following month).

②If a mutual aid policyholder that has filed a request under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article fails to pay past service premiums for a certain number of months or more specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (excluding a case where there is a justifiable reason specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), it may not pay past service premiums from that time on.

③The retirement allowance mutual aid book delivered under the provisions of Article 7, paragraph (3) to a mutual aid policyholder that has filed a request under the provisions of paragraph (1) of the preceding Article must also be capable of showing the status of payment of past service premiums.

④The provisions of Article 22, paragraph (2) and Articles 24 through 26 apply mutatis mutandis to the payment of past service premiums. In this case, the phrase "Article 22, paragraph (1)" in Article 26, paragraph (1) is deemed to be replaced with "Article 28, paragraph (1)".

①Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (2), the amount of the retirement allowance when a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which past service premiums have been paid (excluding a covered employee falling under the following paragraph) retires is to be the greater of the following amounts:

②The payment of a retirement allowance when a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which past service premiums have been paid, and for whom past service premiums have not been paid for some of the months from the month containing the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract took effect through the month in which five years have elapsed (or, where the past service period is less than five years, the number of years of that past service period), retires is as provided in the following items.

③The payment of a cancellation refund when a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which past service premiums have been paid is cancelled is as provided in the following items.

①Where the Organization has concluded with a body that carries out a retirement allowance mutual aid business and is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare a contract providing that, when a person who is able to receive payment of a retirement allowance upon retirement under a retirement allowance mutual aid system operated by that body (limited to a person who has retired) so applies, the amount equivalent to the retirement allowance for that person is to be transferred from that body to the Organization, and providing for other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the person who has so retired, within the period specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare after retirement, without claiming that retirement allowance, has become a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract and has made an application as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Organization is to accept the amount equivalent to that retirement allowance that is transferred from that body as provided in the contract with that body.

②Where the Organization has made the acceptance under the preceding paragraph and the person who has become a covered employee under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract referred to in that paragraph retires, a retirement allowance is paid as provided in the following items.

③Where the Organization has made the acceptance under paragraph (1) and the retirement allowance mutual aid contract for the person who has become a covered employee referred to in that paragraph is cancelled, a cancellation refund is paid as provided in the following items.

④In the application of the preceding Article to a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which past service premiums have been paid and for whom the Organization has made the acceptance under paragraph (1), in paragraph (1) of that Article, "Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (2)" is deemed to be replaced with "Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (2) and the following Article, paragraph (2), item (ii)"; in item (i) of that paragraph, "Article 10, paragraph (2) (excluding item (i))", and in item (ii) of that paragraph, "Article 10, paragraph (2)", are deemed to be replaced with "the following Article, paragraph (2), item (ii)"; in paragraph (2), item (ii) of that Article, ", notwithstanding the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (2)" is deemed to be replaced with ", notwithstanding the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (2) and the following Article, paragraph (2), item (ii)"; in (a) of that item, "the total amount of past service premiums paid" is deemed to be replaced with "the amount obtained by adding the total amount of past service premiums paid to the accepted amount after interest calculation prescribed in the following Article, paragraph (2), item (ii), (a)"; and in (b) and (c) of that item, "Article 10, paragraph (2)" is deemed to be replaced with "the following Article, paragraph (2), item (ii)".

①Where the Organization has concluded with a body that carries out a retirement allowance mutual aid business and is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare a contract providing that, when a person who is able to receive payment of a retirement allowance under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract upon retirement (limited to a person who has retired) so applies, the amount equivalent to the retirement allowance for that person is to be transferred from the Organization to that body, and providing for other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the person who has so retired, within the period specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare after retirement, without claiming that retirement allowance, has become a person who is to receive payment of a retirement allowance under the retirement allowance mutual aid system operated by that body and has made an application as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Organization is to transfer to that body, as provided in the contract with that body, an amount specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare within the range of the amount equivalent to the retirement allowance under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

②Where the amount to be transferred pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph is less than the amount equivalent to the retirement allowance under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract referred to in that paragraph, the Organization is to pay the difference to that covered employee.

①Where an employer (limited to one that had concluded a contract concerning retirement allowance mutual aid (meaning a contract under which an employer undertakes to pay premiums to a body and that body undertakes to pay a retirement allowance upon the retirement of an employee employed by that employer; the same applies hereinafter in this Article) with a body that has discontinued a retirement allowance mutual aid business and is specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (hereinafter referred to in this Article as a "discontinued body")) has concluded a retirement allowance mutual aid contract naming the employees it employs as covered employees, and that discontinued body has concluded with the Organization a contract providing that, for a person who has become a covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract, an amount within the range of the total amount of premiums paid to that discontinued body under that contract concerning retirement allowance mutual aid, the amount specified by Cabinet Order as equivalent to premiums, and the amount of profits from the investment of those amounts is to be transferred to the Organization, and providing for other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and that employer has made an application as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Organization is to accept, as provided in the contract with that discontinued body, that amount pertaining to the person who has become a covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

②Where the Organization has made the acceptance under the preceding paragraph, with respect to the portion of the amount so accepted (hereinafter referred to in this Article as the "accepted amount") that is the amount specified by Cabinet Order taking into account the monthly premium on the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract referred to in that paragraph took effect and other circumstances, the Organization is to aggregate the number of months specified by Cabinet Order into the number of months of paid premiums for the covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. In this case, the number of months to be so aggregated may not exceed the number of months of the period during which the person who has become a covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract was a covered employee under that contract concerning retirement allowance mutual aid.

③The amount of the retirement allowance when a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract who has the remaining amount obtained by deducting the amount specified by Cabinet Order referred to in the preceding paragraph from the accepted amount retires is, notwithstanding the provisions of the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2), the amount specified in each of the following items according to the category of the number of months of paid premiums after aggregation under the preceding paragraph set out in that item.

④Where a retirement allowance mutual aid contract having the remaining amount referred to in the preceding paragraph is cancelled, the amount of the cancellation refund is, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16, paragraph (3), the amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

⑤Where the Organization has accepted the accepted amount in accordance with an application under paragraph (1), the Organization is to notify the employer to that effect, and the employer must notify the person who has become a covered employee pertaining to that accepted amount to that effect.

⑥The provisions of paragraph (1) and the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis where an employer that had concluded a contract concerning retirement allowance mutual aid with a discontinued body has continued to be a party, since before that discontinued body discontinued its retirement allowance mutual aid business, to a retirement allowance mutual aid contract naming as covered employees the employees pertaining to that contract concerning retirement allowance mutual aid. In this case, "has become a covered employee" in paragraph (1) and the preceding paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "is a covered employee", and other technical replacement of terms that is necessary is specified by Cabinet Order.

⑦Where a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which the Organization has accepted the accepted amount in accordance with an application under paragraph (1) as applied mutatis mutandis with terms replaced pursuant to the preceding paragraph retires, the amount of the retirement allowance is, notwithstanding the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2), the amount obtained by adding, to the amount of the retirement allowance calculated pursuant to the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2) on the assumption that the acceptance under paragraph (1) had not taken place, the total of principal and interest obtained by calculating, for the period from the month following the month containing the day of that acceptance through the month containing the day of retirement of that covered employee, compound interest at the rate obtained by adding the rate determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to the rate specified by Cabinet Order, on the accepted amount (where the retirement of that covered employee took place in the month containing the day of that acceptance, the accepted amount).

⑧Where a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which the Organization has accepted the accepted amount in accordance with an application under paragraph (1) as applied mutatis mutandis with terms replaced pursuant to paragraph (6) is cancelled, the amount of the cancellation refund is, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16, paragraph (3), the amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

⑨Where a covered employee to whom the provisions of Article 29, paragraph (1) or (2) or Article 30, paragraph (2) apply is a covered employee under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract pertaining to the accepted amount that the Organization has accepted in accordance with an application under paragraph (1) (including as applied mutatis mutandis with terms replaced pursuant to paragraph (6)), the amount of the retirement allowance is, notwithstanding the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2), Article 29, paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 30, paragraph (2), and paragraphs (3) and (7) of this Article, the amount obtained by adding the amount specified by Cabinet Order to the amount of the retirement allowance calculated pursuant to the provisions of Article 29, paragraph (1) or (2) or Article 30, paragraph (2), and other matters necessary for calculating the amount of retirement allowances, etc. are specified by Cabinet Order.

①Where an employer (limited to one that has made an application under Article 82-5, paragraph (1) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act or Article 54-6 of the Defined Contribution Pension Act) concludes a retirement allowance mutual aid contract naming as covered employees a person who was a participant (meaning a participant prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (4) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act; the same applies in paragraph (6) and paragraph (1) of the following Article) or a person who was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan (meaning a participant of a corporate-type pension plan prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (8) of the Defined Contribution Pension Act; the same applies in paragraph (6) and paragraph (1) of the following Article), in either case employed by that employer, if a person set out in each of the following items has concluded with the Organization a contract providing that, for a person who has become a covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract, the assets specified in that item are to be transferred to the Organization, and providing for other matters specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and that employer has made an application to the Organization as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Organization is to receive the transfer of those assets pertaining to the person who has become a covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract, as provided in the contract with the person set out in that item.

②Where the Organization has received the transfer of the assets specified in the items of the preceding paragraph, with respect to the portion of the amount of the assets so transferred (hereinafter referred to in this Article as the "transferred amount") that is the amount specified by Cabinet Order taking into account the monthly premium on the day on which the retirement allowance mutual aid contract referred to in that paragraph took effect and other circumstances, the Organization is to aggregate the number of months specified by Cabinet Order into the number of months of paid premiums for the covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. In this case, the number of months to be so aggregated may not exceed the participant period prescribed in Article 28, paragraph (1) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act or the participant of a corporate-type pension plan period prescribed in Article 14, paragraph (1) of the Defined Contribution Pension Act of the person who has become a covered employee under that retirement allowance mutual aid contract, pertaining to that amount specified by Cabinet Order.

③The amount of the retirement allowance when a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract who has the remaining amount obtained by deducting the amount specified by Cabinet Order referred to in the preceding paragraph from the transferred amount retires is, notwithstanding the provisions of the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2), the amount specified in each of the following items according to the category of the number of months of paid premiums after aggregation under the preceding paragraph set out in that item.

④Where a retirement allowance mutual aid contract having the remaining amount referred to in the preceding paragraph is cancelled, the amount of the cancellation refund is, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16, paragraph (3), the amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

⑤Where the Organization has received the transfer of the transferred amount in accordance with an application under paragraph (1), the Organization is to notify the employer to that effect, and the employer must notify the person who has become a covered employee pertaining to that transferred amount to that effect.

⑥The provisions of paragraph (1) and the preceding paragraph apply mutatis mutandis where an employer that has implemented a defined-benefit corporate pension or a corporate-type pension plan has been a party, since before making the application under Article 82-5, paragraph (1) of the Defined-Benefit Corporate Pension Act or Article 54-6 of the Defined Contribution Pension Act, to a retirement allowance mutual aid contract naming as covered employees a person who was a participant or a person who was a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, in either case employed by that employer. In this case, "has become a covered employee" in paragraph (1) and the preceding paragraph is deemed to be replaced with "is a covered employee", and other technical replacement of terms that is necessary is specified by Cabinet Order.

⑦Where a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which the Organization has received the transfer of the transferred amount in accordance with an application under paragraph (1) as applied mutatis mutandis with terms replaced pursuant to the preceding paragraph retires, the amount of the retirement allowance is, notwithstanding the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2), the amount obtained by adding, to the amount of the retirement allowance calculated pursuant to the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2) on the assumption that the transfer under paragraph (1) had not been received, the total of principal and interest obtained by calculating, for the period from the month following the month containing the day on which the transfer was received through the month containing the day of retirement of that covered employee, compound interest at the rate obtained by adding the rate determined by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare to the rate specified by Cabinet Order, on the transferred amount (where the retirement of that covered employee took place in the month containing the day on which the transfer was received, the transferred amount).

⑧Where a retirement allowance mutual aid contract for which the Organization has received the transfer of the transferred amount in accordance with an application under paragraph (1) as applied mutatis mutandis with terms replaced pursuant to paragraph (6) is cancelled, the amount of the cancellation refund is, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16, paragraph (3), the amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

⑨Where a covered employee to whom the provisions of Article 29, paragraph (1) or (2), Article 30, paragraph (2), or paragraph (3) or (7) of the preceding Article apply is a covered employee under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract pertaining to the transferred amount that the Organization has received the transfer of in accordance with an application under paragraph (1) (including as applied mutatis mutandis with terms replaced pursuant to paragraph (6)), the amount of the retirement allowance is, notwithstanding the proviso to Article 10, paragraph (1) and Article 10, paragraph (2), Article 29, paragraphs (1) and (2), Article 30, paragraph (2), paragraphs (3) and (7) of the preceding Article, and paragraphs (3) and (7) of this Article, the amount obtained by adding the amount specified by Cabinet Order to the amount of the retirement allowance calculated pursuant to the provisions of Article 29, paragraph (1) or (2), Article 30, paragraph (2), or paragraph (3) or (7) of the preceding Article, and other matters necessary for calculating the amount of retirement allowances, etc. are specified by Cabinet Order.

①Where a mutual aid policyholder has carried out a merger, company split or other act specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as an act under the provisions of the Companies Act (Act No. 86 of 2005) or other laws (hereinafter referred to in this paragraph as a "merger, etc."), and implements a defined-benefit corporate pension in which a covered employee whose retirement allowance mutual aid contract has been cancelled pursuant to the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (3), item (i) as a result of that merger, etc. is a participant, or a corporate-type pension plan in which that covered employee is a participant of a corporate-type pension plan, the Organization is to transfer to the asset management and investment institution, etc. or the asset management institution the amount equivalent to the cancellation refund pertaining to the covered employee whose consent has been obtained, on the basis of an application concerning the transfer of the amount equivalent to the cancellation refund to a defined-benefit corporate pension or corporate-type pension plan (limited to those specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) that the mutual aid policyholder makes, with the consent of that covered employee, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

②Where an application under the preceding paragraph has been made, the Organization is not to pay a cancellation refund to that covered employee, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 16, paragraph (1).

③Where any of the following events occurs with respect to a covered employee who is the subject of an application under paragraph (1), the Organization pays a cancellation refund to that covered employee, notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Where the amount of a retirement allowance, etc. has a fraction of less than one yen, it is rounded up to one yen.

①A right to receive payment of a retirement allowance, etc. is extinguished by prescription if it is not exercised for five years from the time when it becomes exercisable, and a right to receive payment of premiums and past service premiums and a right to receive a refund of premiums or past service premiums are extinguished by prescription if they are not exercised for two years from the time when they become exercisable.

②In the case where a bereaved family member who has the right to receive payment of a retirement allowance is unable to claim the retirement allowance because it is unknown whether a person of a prior or equal rank is alive or where that person is, the extinctive prescription of that right is not to be completed within six months from the day on which the claim becomes possible.

In calculating the period for a claim for a retirement allowance, etc. or a claim for a refund of premiums or past service premiums, if the claim is made by mail or by correspondence delivery prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Correspondence Delivery by Private Business Operators (Act No. 99 of 2002) provided by a general correspondence delivery operator prescribed in paragraph (6) of that Article or a specified correspondence delivery operator prescribed in paragraph (9) of that Article, the number of days required for sending is not counted in that period.

①A mutual aid policyholder under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract must present the retirement allowance mutual aid book when requested by the covered employee.

②When a covered employee retires or a retirement allowance mutual aid contract is cancelled, the mutual aid policyholder under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract must, without delay, deliver the retirement allowance mutual aid book to the covered employee or the covered employee's bereaved family members or heirs, except where there are unavoidable grounds.

③When a covered employee or the covered employee's bereaved family members or heirs request a certificate necessary for receiving payment of a retirement allowance, etc., the mutual aid policyholder under the retirement allowance mutual aid contract must deliver it without delay.

①A small and medium-sized enterprise must not engage in unjust discriminatory treatment against its employees in connection with a retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

②When a small and medium-sized enterprise intends to conclude a retirement allowance mutual aid contract, it must hear the opinions of its employees.

A mutual aid policyholder under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract must, without delay, notify the Organization to that effect when it becomes an employer that is not a small and medium-sized enterprise or when a covered employee's retirement occurs.

The Organization may, to the extent necessary for carrying out the operations prescribed in Article 70, paragraph (1) (hereinafter referred to as "retirement allowance mutual aid operations"), request a mutual aid policyholder or a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract to submit a report or documents.

A specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract concerning a person who falls under Article 3, paragraph (3), item (i) and is employed by a small and medium-sized enterprise that carries on a business belonging to a specified industry and who customarily engages in the business belonging to that specified industry is governed by this Chapter.

In designating a specified industry, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare must take into consideration the prospect that, in the case where the Organization carries out the operations set out in Article 70, paragraph (1), item (i) relating to that specified industry, a considerable number of small and medium-sized enterprises that carry on businesses belonging to that specified industry will become mutual aid policyholders under specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contracts relating to that specified industry, and other circumstances, and must hear the opinion of the Labour Policy Council.

①No one other than a small and medium-sized enterprise may conclude a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

②When a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract is concluded, all persons prescribed in Article 39 who are employed by the mutual aid policyholder, except persons who are not to become covered employees pursuant to paragraph (4), become covered employees under that specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract at the time when that specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract takes effect (for a person newly employed by that mutual aid policyholder after that specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract takes effect, at the time when that person is employed).

③Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, a person who is currently a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract and any other person specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare do not become covered employees under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

④A small and medium-sized enterprise may, in concluding a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract (for a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract deemed to have been concluded pursuant to Article 73, paragraph (7), in responding to the solicitation under paragraph (6) of that Article), provide that persons whose prescribed working hours are particularly short and other persons specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare are not to become covered employees under that specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

⑤The Organization must not refuse to conclude a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract, except where the applicant for the contract is a person whose specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract was cancelled pursuant to paragraph (2), item (i) of the following Article and for whom six months have not elapsed from the date of cancellation, or where there are other justifiable grounds specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

⑥A mutual aid policyholder may expand and reduce the scope of the persons prescribed in paragraph (4) who are not to become covered employees under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract, even after that specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract has taken effect.

⑦When a mutual aid policyholder intends to expand the scope of the persons prescribed in the preceding paragraph pursuant to that paragraph, and among the employees it currently employs there are persons who would not become covered employees as a result of the expansion of the scope, the mutual aid policyholder must obtain the consent of three-fourths or more of those persons; provided, however, that this does not apply where the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare finds that it would be extremely difficult to continue paying premiums for those persons.

①Except in the cases prescribed in the following paragraph or paragraph (3), neither the Organization nor a mutual aid policyholder may cancel a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

②The Organization is to cancel a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract in any of the following cases; provided, however, that this does not apply in a case falling under item (ii) where the approval of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare has been obtained in advance, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

③A mutual aid policyholder may cancel a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract in any of the following cases.

①When a covered employee falls under any of the following items, the Organization pays a retirement allowance to that person in accordance with the specified-industry number of months of paid premiums for that person (meaning the total number of days for which premiums have been paid under the specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract for that covered employee (where that person is a person who has already received payment of a retirement allowance, excluding the days that formed the basis for calculating the amount of that retirement allowance), converted into a number of months by a method specified by Cabinet Order in consideration of the working conditions of persons engaged in that specified industry; the same applies hereinafter); provided, however, that this does not apply where the specified-industry number of months of paid premiums is less than 24 months (12 months where the covered employee falls under item (i) or item (ii), (a), or is a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract relating to a specified industry designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare).

②When a mutual aid policyholder becomes an employer that is not a small and medium-sized enterprise (excluding the case where the approval referred to in the proviso to paragraph (2) of the preceding Article has been given) or ceases to be an employer of a business belonging to the specified industry concerned, for the purpose of applying item (ii) or item (iii) of the preceding paragraph, the covered employee is deemed to have retired.

③When a covered employee comes to be employed for an indefinite period by the employer that currently employs that person, that person is deemed to have fallen under paragraph (1), item (ii), (c).

④The retirement allowance due to a covered employee's falling under paragraph (1), item (i) or item (ii), (a) is paid to the bereaved family members of the deceased person.

⑤The amount of a retirement allowance is specified by Cabinet Order for each specified industry, in accordance with the daily amount of premiums and the specified-industry number of months of paid premiums, and taking into consideration the method of calculating the amount of a retirement allowance under Article 10, paragraph (2) and other circumstances.

①Premiums are to be set on a daily basis, and the amount is to be specified in the specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid rules within the range of 300 yen or more and 800 yen or less per covered employee.

②The daily amount of premiums must not include a fraction of less than 10 yen.

③The daily amount of premiums must be a single amount for each specified industry.

④Each time a mutual aid policyholder pays wages to a covered employee, the mutual aid policyholder must pay premiums by affixing a retirement allowance mutual aid stamp to the retirement allowance mutual aid book and canceling it with a seal.

⑤With regard to the payment of premiums under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract relating to a specified industry designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, where a mutual aid policyholder, using an electronic data processing system (meaning an electronic data processing system that connects a computer used by the Organization (including input and output devices; the same applies hereinafter in this paragraph) with a computer used by the mutual aid policyholder through a telecommunication line), reports the actual work performed by covered employees to the Organization as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the payment may be made in cash, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, in place of the method prescribed in the preceding paragraph.

⑥Matters necessary for the payment of premiums, such as retirement allowance mutual aid books and retirement allowance mutual aid stamps, are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

①In order to promote the filing of applications for specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contracts by small and medium-sized enterprises that carry on businesses belonging to a specified industry and otherwise to ensure the smooth implementation of the retirement allowance mutual aid business for small and medium-sized enterprises under the provisions of this Chapter, the Organization may, as provided by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, exempt mutual aid policyholders from paying premiums for a certain number of days, as a measure to reduce their burden of premiums.

②When converting into a number of months under Article 43, paragraph (1), or calculating the amount to be transferred under Article 46, paragraph (1) or Article 55, paragraph (4), with regard to a covered employee for whom there is a day on which a measure of exemption from the payment of premiums was taken under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, premiums are deemed to have been paid for that day.

①The Organization must transfer, as provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, from the account for specified industry A established under Article 74, paragraph (1) to the account for specified industry B established under that paragraph, an amount equivalent to, in the case listed in item (i), the retirement allowance to be paid to the covered employee prescribed in that item, and, in the case listed in item (ii), the retirement allowance that would be payable to a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract for specified industry A if that person were deemed to have fallen under Article 43, paragraph (1), item (ii), (c) at the time of becoming a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract for specified industry B (or, where the total amount of premiums paid exceeds that amount (excluding the case where the retirement allowance is to be paid in a reduced amount under the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (5) as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 51) or where the proviso to Article 43, paragraph (1) applies, the total amount of premiums paid):

②When the transfer under the preceding paragraph has been made, premiums are deemed to have been paid for that person under the specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract for specified industry B referred to in that paragraph. In this case, with regard to the payment of a retirement allowance made after the transfer under the preceding paragraph has been made for a person for whom the number of months obtained by adding that person's specified-industry number of months of paid premiums for specified industry B to that person's specified-industry number of months of paid premiums for specified industry A is 24 months or more (or 12 months or more, where that person falls under Article 43, paragraph (1), item (i) or item (ii), (a), or is a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract for a specified industry designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare) and for a person who has the remainder obtained by deducting, from the amount transferred, the amount specified by Cabinet Order as the amount corresponding to the number of months so added, the proviso to paragraph (1) of that Article does not apply.

③The method of calculating the specified-industry number of months of paid premiums for premiums deemed to have been paid under the provisions of the preceding paragraph, and other matters necessary for the payment of retirement allowances, are specified by Cabinet Order.

Matters necessary for the handling of business are specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, where a principal contractor of a business carried out through successive tiers of contracting handles, upon entrustment by a subcontractor, the conclusion of a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract and other business that the subcontractor is to carry out in relation to the specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

①When requested by a mutual aid policyholder, the Organization must deliver a retirement allowance mutual aid book without delay.

②When an employee whom a mutual aid policyholder currently employs has become a covered employee, or when an employee has become a covered employee through being newly employed, the mutual aid policyholder must deliver a retirement allowance mutual aid book to that covered employee without delay; provided, however, that this does not apply to a person who currently holds a retirement allowance mutual aid book.

①When newly employing an employee, a mutual aid policyholder must notify that person whether that person is to become a covered employee.

②When an employer ceases to be a mutual aid policyholder, it must without delay make that fact known to the persons who have ceased to be covered employees by a method such as posting a notice in a conspicuous place at each workplace. The same applies when all or some of the employees who are covered employees whom the employer currently employs have ceased to be covered employees under Article 41, paragraph (3) or (6).

When a mutual aid policyholder has become an employer that is not a small and medium-sized enterprise engaged in a business belonging to the specified industry concerned, it must notify the Organization to that effect without delay.

The provisions of Article 5, Article 7, paragraph (1), Article 8, paragraph (4), Article 10, paragraph (5), Article 11, Article 14, Article 15, Article 17-2, Articles 19 through 21, Article 33, Article 34, Article 35, paragraph (3), Article 36 and Article 38 apply mutatis mutandis to specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contracts. In this case, the phrase "Article 10, paragraph (1)" in Article 14, paragraph (1) is deemed to be replaced with "Article 43, paragraph (4)".

When the Organization commences the operations listed in Article 70, paragraph (1), item (i) for a specified industry upon the designation of that specified industry, if it is necessary for the sound administration of those operations and the Organization has obtained the authorization of the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, then notwithstanding the provisions of Article 41, paragraph (2), it may provide that, among the employees employed by mutual aid policyholders for that specified industry, those in certain types of occupation, regions, etc. are not to become covered employees within a certain period; provided, however, that this period may not exceed five years from the date of commencement of the operations listed in that item for that specified industry.

When the Organization commences the operations listed in Article 70, paragraph (1), item (i) for a specified industry upon the designation of that specified industry, where a small and medium-sized enterprise engaged in a business belonging to that specified industry that participates in a retirement allowance savings scheme for employees (hereinafter referred to as a "savings scheme" in this Article) that small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in businesses belonging to that specified industry are then jointly carrying out and that the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare certifies as conforming to the standards specified by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare either responds to the solicitation under Article 73, paragraph (5) and is deemed under Article 73, paragraph (8) to have concluded a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract with the Organization, or concludes a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract with the Organization within one year from the date of commencement of the operations listed in that item for that specified industry, and the employee has become a covered employee, if that small and medium-sized enterprise pays to the Organization within that period an amount specified by Cabinet Order within the range of the amount accumulated in that savings scheme for that covered employee, the number of months specified by Cabinet Order in accordance with that amount is to be aggregated with the specified-industry number of months of paid premiums for that covered employee. In this case, the number of months to be aggregated may not exceed the number of months of the period during which that small and medium-sized enterprise participated in the savings scheme for that employee (or, where the number of months of that period exceeds 72 months, 72 months).

①A person who is currently a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract does not become a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract.

②With respect to a person who is currently a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract, a retirement allowance mutual aid contract naming that person as a covered employee may not be concluded.

①The Organization must transfer, as provided for by Order of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, from the account for general small and medium-sized enterprise retirement allowance mutual aid operations established under Article 74, paragraph (1) to the part of the accounts for specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid operations established under that paragraph that relates to the specified industry concerned, an amount equivalent to, in the case listed in item (i), the retirement allowance to be paid to the covered employee prescribed in that item, and, in the case listed in item (ii), the retirement allowance that would be payable to a person if that person were deemed to have retired at the time of ceasing to be a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract (or, where the total amount of premiums and past service premiums paid exceeds that amount (excluding the case where the retirement allowance is to be paid in a reduced amount under the provisions of Article 10, paragraph (5)) or where the proviso to paragraph (1) of that Article applies, the total amount of premiums and past service premiums paid):

②When a transfer under the preceding paragraph has been made, premiums are deemed to have been paid for that person under the specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract for that person; in this case, the proviso to Article 43, paragraph (1) does not apply to the payment of a retirement allowance under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract made after the transfer under the preceding paragraph with regard to a person for whom the number of months obtained by adding the specified-industry number of months of paid premiums to the number of months of paid premiums is 24 months or more (12 months where that person falls under Article 43, paragraph (1), item (i) or item (ii), (a), or is a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract relating to a specified industry designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare), and with regard to a person who has the remaining amount obtained by deducting from the amount transferred an amount specified by Cabinet Order as the amount relating to the number of months so added.

③The method of calculating the specified-industry number of months of paid premiums for premiums deemed to have been paid pursuant to the preceding paragraph, and other matters necessary for the payment of a retirement allowance, etc. where the preceding two paragraphs apply, are specified by Cabinet Order.

④The treatment of a person who was a covered employee under a specified-industry retirement allowance mutual aid contract and has become a covered employee under a retirement allowance mutual aid contract is governed by the examples of the preceding three paragraphs; in this case, the phrase "if that person were deemed to have retired" in paragraph (1) is deemed to be replaced with "if that person were deemed to have fallen under Article 43, paragraph (1), item (ii), (c) (including the case where that person is deemed, pursuant to Article 43, paragraph (3), to have fallen under item (ii), (c) of paragraph (1) of that Article)".

Matters concerning the name, purpose, scope of operations, etc. of the Organization for Workers' Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid are governed by this Chapter.

The name of the incorporated administrative agency prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the General Rules Act that is established pursuant to this Act and the Act on General Rules for Incorporated Administrative Agencies (Act No. 103 of 1999; hereinafter referred to as the "General Rules Act") is the Organization for Workers' Retirement Allowance Mutual Aid.